Geraldine Gardner(1950-1987)

Geraldine didn't like the sound of her birth name for acting purposes so with her then agent Richard Stone, changed it to Trudi Van Doorn. This worked well for the number of comedy TV roles she was offered and enjoyed the work, particularly The Benny Hill Show franchise,Danger UXB, The Avengers and BBc's Are You Being Served. She was an excellent strong singer with a wide range, and in her own words a reasonably good dancer. Self deprecation was her usual way of coping. Truth was she was a first class dancer and had a powerful voice. She played Sheila in the original London West End production of Chorus Line, changing her professional Equity name to Geraldine Gardner she then almost immediately landed the part of Bombalurina in the original London production of Cats. Earlier in her career she was pencilled in for the role of Purdey in The Avengers but Joanna Lumley won that role. Her list of TV credits is extensive but you just have to look for three different names. One thing is certain her original birth name was never ever used by her professionally in Film, TV, and Theatre roles.